Russian Digest 4/16
Top daily stories I'm keeping an eye on
Putin signed a law that introduces a punishment of up to 15 days of arrest in the Code of Administrative Offenses for “publicly identifying” the USSR with Nazi Germany and denying the “decisive role” and “humanitarian mission” of the USSR in World War II.
In addition to the arrest, the new article 13.48 of the Code of Administrative Offenses also provides for fines from 1 to 2 thousand rubles for citizens.
Repeated violation threatens with 15 days of arrest under the second part of the article or a fine of up to five thousand rubles.
Protocols under the new article will be able to draw up police officers, employees of Roskomnadzor, or the prosecutor's office.
The introduction of fines was in addition to the adoption in June 2021 of a law prohibiting “denial of the decisive role of the Soviet people in the defeat of Nazi Germany and the humanitarian mission of the USSR in the liberation of the countries of Europe.”
Both laws had the same authors - United Russia deputies Elena Yampolskaya, Alexander Zhukov, and Senator Alexei Pushkov. The amendments were prepared at the request of Putin. via Mediazona
The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation showed a video of the meeting of the crew of the sunken cruiser Moskva with the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Admiral Nikolai Evmenov. The video shows about 100 sailors. Next to Evmenov (in the photo - in the center) the captain of "Moscow" Anton Kuprin, the Ukrainian media wrote that he died. The commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Admiral Igor Osipov, is not at this meeting; Ukrainian intelligence reported that he was arrested immediately after the death of the cruiser.
Officially, the Ministry of Defense did not announce the number of rescued crew members. Aleksey Arestovich, the adviser to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine, said that there could be 510 sailors on the ship. The media gave different data on the number of the crew - from 500 to more than 700 people. The Border Service of Ukraine claimed that a strong storm prevented the rescue of the crew, which “did not allow either to carry out a calm rescue operation or to evacuate the crew.”
The first part of the video is without sound. “On the personnel, a separation of personnel is carried out: the commander of the personnel is obliged to report the number of personnel, the number of those present in the ranks, and the number of those who have retired (the retired are the wounded, sick, dead or present not in the ranks, but in other jobs). Thus, the data on the number of surviving sailors of the cruiser Moskva remain unknown, ” Novaya Gazeta Europe notes. via The Insider
Russian cyberattacks increase throughout Florida
Cyber security experts are warning local businesses about an uptick in attempted Russian cyberattacks.
The agency, which investigates many of the attacks, warned that just living in Florida increases the risk of an attack or cyber identity crime.
U.S. government agencies have warned that hackers have a new tool in their box which now makes it easier for them to gain access to our water and energy facilities and cyber security experts warn that Florida is a big target. via NBC-2
Russia’s Defense Ministry told the Ukrainian soldiers still remaining in Mariupol at the Azovstal steelworks plant they have from 6 a.m. until 1 p.m. Moscow time on April 17 to surrender, “without any weapons and ammunition,” Russian state media Ria Novosti reported. There was no response from Ukraine to the demand. via Kyiv Independent
Deripaska’s yacht arrives in Turkey
A yacht linked to a Russian aluminum tycoon arrived in a bay near the southwestern Turkish resort of Gocek on Saturday, as more Russian billionaires head for Turkey to flee Western sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Oleg Deripaska, the founder of Russian aluminum giant Rusal, has been sanctioned by the United States, United Kingdom, and European Union. via AlJazeera